Summary

bidStart is an online marketplace and community connecting buyers and sellers of collectibles; including stamps, coins, comics, sports cards and more; offering auction & store items. bidStart stands out in the industry by offering unrivaled customer service with a personal touch and low selling fees.

History

Founded in March of 2005, bidStart was originally known as StampWants, and focused exclusively on collectible stamps. Within just a few years, StampWants had become a leader among collectible stamp marketplaces through quality features and support, aggressive advertising and unprecedented promotions; including the giveaway of a C3a Inverted Jenny in 2008 - the most sought after United States stamp, worth over $175,000 at the time.

During the summer of 2009, StampWants re-launched an entirely new website based upon the comments, suggestions and feedback we received since our launch in 2005. The new website was an immediate success, and sales quickly began to increase.

In November of 2009 StampWants re-branded itself as bidStart - the Collectible Marketplace. The core values and principles remain the same, but with the desire to provide the best platform and marketplace to not only philatelists, but collectors of all types of collectibles.

Features

bidStart offers sellers of collectibles the option to sell their items in auction, fixed price, and store inventory formats. All the features these sellers would expect from an online auction site, and more, are available to them, including gallery images, image hosting, best offers, reserve prices and listing upgrades. By implementing low insertion fees, bidStart has been able to maintain a high quality of items listed online, while at the same time allowing sellers to list their entire inventories.

Goals & Mission Statement

For the collector, bidStart offers a wide and extensive inventory of collectibles for purchase, along with free tools and services such as want list management software, community forums, promotions and giveaways.

By focusing exclusively on collectibles, and understanding the collector, bidStart is able to offer collectors a home and sense of community which is lost on most other auction websites. By working together with our members, we believe we can build a better, stronger, community and marketplace for all.

Bios

Mark Rosenberg :: founder, President and CEO

The founder, President and CEO of bidStart is Mark Rosenberg. As President and CEO of bidStart, Mark is responsible for managing the overall direction of bidStart, heads customer relations and support, and is in charge of programming and graphical design. Mark is also responsible for ensuring bidStart's continued growth into new collectible categories.

Prior to working full time for bidStart, Mark Rosenberg worked for Gary Posner, Inc. - a collectible stamp company, where he managed operations, all online business activity, as well as created a complete custom computer software package to integrate all aspects of their business. Mark has also created many professional websites and computer programs for several companies of varying sizes. He first started selling stamps online in 1997, after he convinced his father of the viability of philatelic sales on ebay. The continually increasing of fees, impersonal nature, and customer disconnect he experienced at ebay over the years that followed were a driving force in his desire to create a better marketplace for collectors - after all, he is one.

Mark has always been an avid collector of stamps, coins and comic books. In particular Mark actively collected every new Superman comic publication between the years of 1989 and 2001. Mark enjoys classic movies, with his favorite actor and director being Cary Grant and Alfred Hitchcock. Mark graduated with highest honors from Rutgers University with a Bachelor’s Degree of Science in computer science.